The Evolution of the Bike

I've talked a lot on here about my own evolution as a cyclist, but I haven't really put into a single post the changes that have been made to the Tarmac in a little over a year....15 months to be exact.  Lets take a look at the original version as purchased from Paul's Cycling in August 2011.  It is a 2010 Tarmac Expert test bike.  I purchased it brand new, and it was equipped with Mavic Ksyerium Equipe wheels and Specialized Mondo Pro II tires.  It had a full Shimano Ultegra group, and a BG Toupe' saddle.  A nice bike with lots of higher end equipment, but not top of the line.  It was more bike than I figured I would ever need.

When I bought the bike, I was not wild at all about the white bar tape, or the white saddle, but for an $800 savings, I was happy to take what they had.  Truthfully though, the white grew on me over time, and I actually didn't mind it at all.  The bars did show dirt fairly quick though, but were easy enough to clean.  I knew I had to add some things to the bike after I brought it home, and I did that very day.  All the additions were designed for functionality, and self sufficiency on longer rides.

You will see that a saddle bag was added to store a spare tube, tools, and other necessities.  Bottle cages were added so that I could take water with me.  Under the front cage I added a frame mounted tire pump because without it, the extra tube would do me very little good.  My Cateye cyclometer was also installed on the stem to keep track of the miles that will pass under the tires.  The odometer was set to 0 so that my mileage would be accurate for the bike itself.  Another Cateye product is a strobe light that consists of five LED elements.  It is mounted to the seat tube, and is on any time I am on the road to warn motorists of my presence on the road.  You will, of course, notice the platform pedals...these remained for a very long time until I swapped over to clipless pedals.

This is the way the bike remained for quite a few months until it was time to replace the chain.  This is standard maintenance, but I figured this was a good time to upgrade to a little more stout piece of equipment.  I went with a SRAM PC1070 chain because it had a bit harder metal, and was lighter than the Ultegra chain it replaced.  Of course, the new chain introduced a slipping cog on my rear cassette which was worn too much.  Again, I saw this as an upgrade opportunity and swapped in a SRAM PG1070 cassette which was supposed to be a bit more durable.  I also changed the gearing from 11-28 to 11-26 to take advantage of my higher gear riding style.

Realizing that rides much over 60 miles required more than two bottles of water, I had to add some additional bottle cages.  These seat mounted ones brought my total fluid stores to 104oz which proved to be enough to handle 100 miles in the heat....but barely.  While this is probably a strange addition to a racing bike, I really like having it, and they have proved useful when the bike falls over (twice now) for protecting the saddle from scuffs.

Next on my list of replacement parts that turned into upgrades are my original tires.  After a bit over 2300 miles, they were shot.  The rear tire developed a bulge in the center where the casing was coming apart.  Based on the suggestion from a friend, I chose to upgrade to Continental 4000S tires.  I never knew how much difference a set of tires could make.  My average speed went up immediately 1mph on average with no other changes.  I was sold!  Not to mention these tires have lasted over 3500 miles with tread to spare.

Next on the upgrade list was my cyclometer.  While the Cateye was doing just fine, It was not mapping the ride for me, and I was not getting the data that I really needed.  Based on suggestions from friends, I went with a Garmin 500 GPS unit.  This thing does it all....gives me real time information as I ride, and it records it all to be uploaded to Garmin's website for review and archiving.  The best part, I can now view my route on a map, as well as seeing the elevation data.  Its a very neat gadget, and one that I highly recommend.  To keep things organized, I set the odometer to the exact value that my retired Cateye cyclometer showed.  This way, my overall mileage remained correct.

What really turned out to be a great part of this GPS unit was the cadence/speed sensor that mounted to the rear chainstay.  The speed was not that impressive since I have been monitoring that for some time now, but the cadence monitoring turned out to be very useful.  I found out that I was pedaling at about 60-65rpm's which is way too low as I learned later on.  This accessory helped me get my cadence under control, and up into the mid 80's which is where it needs to be.  There is also a heart rate monitor which the Garmin reads as I ride.  For the first time, I got an insight into how much my body was actually working.  It was going harder than I gave it credit for!

The next upgrade came when my original flat pedals conked out and began squeaking really badly at about 2900 miles.  While I was offered to go with clipless pedals, I opted to stick with platform pedals for simplicity.  These stouter Eleven 81 pedals looked great, were lighter, and stronger than the original ones.  However, they proved not to hold up as well.

Chains wear out, and my second one wore out in the summer of 2012.  Having had such good luck with the SRAM chain before, I opted to keep with the line, and installed a PC1091R chain this time, which was a bit lighter, and was chrome plated on all links.  The weight savings came from the cutouts on the side plates, as the hollow pins were a carryover from the basic PC1070.  Fortunately, I replaced the chain early enough that the cassette was in good shape, and did not need to be replaced.  Hey, I was learning, and finding out when was best to replace things.

My replacement flat pedals didn't last as long as I would have hoped.  With 1400 miles on them, the bearings started to give out.  I went ahead and listened to popular opinion and replaced them with Speedplay clipless pedals.  They were matched to Shimano SPD shoes which proved to be a good combination.  It took some getting used to, but I think I have finally gotten to the point that I really like these pedals, and doubt I could effectively pedal on flats anymore.  I don't recommend them for a casual rider though, as they will reap only a few benefits, and will be plagued with the negatives.

The new pedals necessitated a visit to Paul's Cycling in order to get a proper fit done.  After many hours, over three different visits, I ended up with some more changes to the bike.  To help with the numbness in my nether regions, I got a new saddle to replace the well broken in Toupe.  The new Romin saddle was a nice black saddle with white and red accents....perfect!!!!  Also, the stem had to be replaced to adjust the reach of the handle bars.  As it turned out, it was black as well.  You know, that bar tape was looking pretty rough, so it was rewrapped with BG Bar Phat tape....in black!  It seemed that in a very short amount of time, the look of the bike changed drastically with the swapping of colors from white to black.

This was looking quite good, and I chose to make a slight cosmetic change to help set the new colors off.  I located some red hood covers from Hudz and ordered them.  They gave just the right amount of pop to the front of the bike.  It looked racier already, and all of this was cosmetic/comfort changes.  A pair of Specialized Carbon fiber bottle cages were also installed to replace the original alloy ones.  I have to thank Toni for these since there was no way I was going to spend that kind of money on two cages.  Thanks darlin'!!!!

I thought I was pretty much done with the bike at this point but saw something in a magazine that caught my eye.  It was a mount for the Garmin GPS unit.  I had never been really happy with the location on the stem as it was too far to the rear.  When I moved it to the handlebar, it got on the way, and there was more of a glare on it.  The K-Edge mount was just the trick I was looking for.  It moved the Garmin out to the front of the bar, more in my line of sight, and it was centered again.  Just like I wanted it!

Now, I was in business!  Everything was like I wanted it.  The bike looked great, was performing great, and felt great to my body.  I was pretty sure I had reached the end of the road on major modifications....that is until I started hearing lots of clicks in the rear of the bike.  It took some time to determine where the noise was coming from, but on a particularly bumpy ride, I narrowed it down to the rear wheel.  When I got home, I looked real close and found two cracks in the hoop by one of the spoke nipples.  Not good...not good at all.  This could mean catastrophic failure of the wheel in the near future.  I took the bike off the road, and set out to find new wheels.  No time like the present to look for an upgrade.

While looking for wheels, I spent lots of time on my trainer.  With all the sweating I was doing, the cloth BG tape started to come unraveled, and was slipping all over the bar.  Guess it was time to replace that with something a bit more resistant to sweat.  I chose to go with Lizardskins for the material they were made of.  I also decided to install this myself.  Here is the finished product.  Its not as nice as I would have liked it, but considering it was my first time wrapping bars, I am rather pleased with it.  I'll be interested to see how it holds up over time.  My initial reaction is I really like it.  Its cushioned and slip resistant.

Since I was going to be putting new wheels on, and my chain was at about the end of its useful life, I chose to upgrade yet again, to a higher level cassette.  I replaced my SRAM PG1070 with a new one from SRAM's Red group, the OG1090.  This cassette is forged from one piece of metal with the 9th and 10th gear rings separate.  Its lighter, stronger, and more efficient than the previous cassette.  Also, since my cadence is getting much faster, and I'm doing more climbing, I opted to go back to the original 11-28t gearing.  I matched it with a replacement PC1091R chain.  The running gear is now good for another 2500 miles!

The wheels that I chose were an entry level Zipp aluminum aero wheel.  These are the 101's and they are awesome!  Lighter than the Mavics, better hubs, and stronger.  They are also aero so that my speeds should increase on the flats.  The light weight should make climbing easier as well.  It would have been a shame to wrap these new rims with old tires, so even though the Conti's had about another 1000 miles in them, I decided to put brand new 4000S tires on the Zipps.  I would say that the rolling stock is now good for another 5000 miles.

So, there you have it....the evolution of a bike in just a bit over a year. I'm sure that there will be more to come in the future, but I have to say....I'm proud of my bike.  For about 6000 miles it still looks new, and its built up with some really nice parts which make it much better than when it was stock.  I'm a big fan of the current Shimano/SRAM hybrid drivetrain.  It works flawlessly, and has doubled the durability of the original Ultegra group.

Now, lets ride!

Goals for 2013

I like goals....they keep me focused, and give me the motivation to continue to improve.  Each year I have set goals, and I have accomplished them.  These goals range from simple to rather large and involved, but regardless, I have met each of my goals and exceeded them every time.  Lets take a look back at some of goals that I have accomplished shall we...

2011

This year started out in June with a simple goal of getting on a bike and seeing if I remembered how to ride.  Much to my surprise, you actually never forget how to ride a bike.  I rode for the first time in 20 some years in the month of June.  This was followed by my first real goal related to cycling.  That was the 2011 Tour to Tanglewood.  My initial goal was to ride 30 miles on both days, but after a short month of training on my first "real" road bike, I exceeded that goal, and rode 50 miles each day!  Beyond that, I continued training, and extending the distances that I was able to cover in a day.

2012

This was my first full year as a cyclist, and I came into it with a goal already in mind.  My first goal for the year was to ride a full century followed by a metric century in the Tour to Tanglewood.  I also wanted to raise $1000 for the NMSS.  After completing two training centuries, I met my distance goal for the Tour, and actually more than doubled my fund raising goal!

Another goal that developed in late spring was to be able to ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I got my chance in early June, and managed to ride a full metric century in the mountains.  While I could check this off the list as an accomplishment, I was not happy with the outcome.  Unfortunately, I blew up climbing the big hill of the day and quite literally had to limp the majority of the return ride.  It was a disappointment, but I got the chance to redeem myself in mid October when I was given another chance to ride the Parkway.  This time, the distance was a hair longer, but the climbs were double what I did on the previous ride.  With lots of technique and equipment changes, I was able to conquer the Blue Ridge Parkway, and officially check that off of my list of goals for the year.

A minor goal for the year was to learn how to work on my own bike, and get comfortable doing various maintenance and improvement tasks on it.  Throughout the year, I learned how to replace tires and tubes (good to know for flats on the road), replace chains, rear cassettes, rewrap bar tape, fix a sticky rear derailleur, and do a complete wash after a long ride in the rain.  Its not much, but I am becoming more familiar with the bike, and with that comes the confidence needed to ride the distances that I do without any support.

2013

Now for the upcoming year, which will be the biggest year yet!  I have a great foundation to build on at this point.  I have ridden three centuries, countless metric centuries, and have improved on my hill climbing ability.  Now its time to get serious about my goals.  This year its not just about the Tour to Tanglewood.  Sure, its still a focal point for the year, and a very important ride for me, but there is not much growing room for me in that event any more.  I want more....faster speeds, more climbing, and further distances.  My goals for 2013 encompass all of that.

1.)  First of all, and likely the easiest goal for the year is for me to enter into the 20's for average speeds over the course of a 50+ mile ride.  To put this in context, when I was riding my mountain bike, my average speeds were about 13-14mph which I was excited about!  When I moved up to a road bike, those averages went into the 16's very quickly.  2012 started with upper 16's and has seen mid 19's toward the end of the season.  I'm not far from getting to my goal of 20mph, and might actually see it before the start of the year.  I have been spending time on my trainer working on intervals, as well as pedal drills which should make me a more efficient engine for the bike.  I have also worked on lowering the rotational weight of the wheels, as well as adding an aero quality to them.  The training and equipment should help me break that 20mph barrier, and that will be a huge day for me as it will put me into an "A group" status that I am just not quite able to join yet.

2.)  My second goal for the year is an extension of my Blue Ridge Parkway goal from 2012.  I want to participate in the Assault on the Carolinas which covers 100K distance in the mountains of North and South Carolina.  The highlight of this ride is a 6 mile, 2000 foot climb to Caesar's Head State Park.  The hardest part of this goal is that it comes so early in the riding season.  The scheduled date for it is April 13th, which means cold temperatures and a good chance of rain for the mountain areas.  It will be nice to ride a mountain metric that is fully supported though.

Edit:  Check this one off my list.  It's done!

3.)   The third goal for the year is probably the crown of achievements I will attempt this year.  It is called Double Down to the Beach, and the name just doesn't do it justice.  This is something that I will not be able to attempt prior to actually participating in it.  It is a one day....200 mile ride from Greensboro, NC, to Myrtle Beach, SC.  This is the second year for the ride, and I plan on being one of the riders....hopefully in the "A group".  The first 80 miles will be like most of my rides that I do around home with rolling terrain that will work on my legs over time.  However, after that 80 mile mark, the course profile turns into a shallow decline for the remainder of the ride which should boost speeds, and extend the endurance.  It starts at 5:30am, and ends quite possibly after the sun sets for the day.  There will be full SAG support, but I'm going to be leaning on Toni to be there with me with food, fluids, and a camera.  I'm hoping that she won't need to give me a ride to the destination.  When I'm done....if I finish....I will have ridden about 212 miles in a single day, over two states.  This will be the Hoorah moment of the year!

4.)  My final goal for 2013, is to once again participate in the Tour to Tanglewood.  I will ride the long routes both days which should total around 170 miles or so.  I will try to raise at least $3000, and ride much faster than I did in 2012.  I figure with the Assault on the Carolinas, and Double Down to the Beach under my belt, the Tour will be a piece of cake.


Well, there you have it....my 2013 goals as they sit right now.  I'm sure there will be other goals added along the way as things present themselves, but I think this will be a well rounded set of goals to get started with.  I do know that in order to achieve these goals, I will need to continue my training throughout the winter months.  Look for me on the road, and on the trainer at home.  Miles will be logged in the saddle, tempos increased, power and endurance brought into a whole new level.  I will evolve into a more serious cyclist in 2013.  The days of just pedaling are behind me.  Its all about form and function now which will lead to a more enjoyable experience on two wheels!